Ensaio sobre a cegueira: the allegory of white evil and fear in contemporary society

• Grant number: 24/17740-1
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: January 01, 2025
• End date: December 31, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Linguistics, Literature and Arts - Literature - Other Vernacular Literatures
• Principal Investigator: Cleomar Pinheiro Sotta
• Grantee: Thiago Santana de Lima
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências e Letras (FCL-ASSIS). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de Assis. Assis , SP, Brazil

Abstract

This research project proposes an analysis of José Saramago's Ensaio sobre a cegueira (1995), centered on the representation of fear and insecurity, which become the driving forces behind human actions and institutions in the face of an unusual epidemic of blindness, white and contagious, which is the conflict in the book. The theoretical foundation is based on the ideas of fear and liquid modernity put forward by the philosopher Zygmunt Bauman, for whom the rapid and constant transformations of the world produce societies marked by fear and insecurity, cities plagued by violence and public institutions incapable of guaranteeing the population decent conditions for survival. Thus, the work aims to demonstrate how Saramago's narrative establishes close connections with Bauman's considerations, based on the expression of an allegorical portrait of contemporary society, especially with regard to fear, which manifests itself in the behavior, speeches and reflections of the characters, as well as in the actions of public institutions in the face of the blindness epidemic. By analyzing the novel, we hope to prove the capacity of literature to critically reflect reality and offer a profound understanding of contemporary societies.